WD today announced that it's shipping its new line of Scorpio Black 7200 RPM 2.5-inch SATA hard drives with 16MB of cache. According to the company, WD Scorpio Black hard drives are designed with ruggedness, reliability, and data-protection features that actively monitor and protect valuable data. They are available in capacities of 80, 120, 160, 250 and 320GB, and carry a suggested retail price of up to $249 depending on capacity and features.

So Western Digital finally joins the 7200RPM notebook disk crowd and with a 320Gb disk too. Power requirements are the same as their 5400RPM cousins and although WD doesn't give start up power requirements (unlike Hitachi and Seagate, both ~5W) the quoted 2.5W for read/write means it could run off a single USB port.

Does anyone have any ideas when 500GB 2.5" drives are forecast to turn up?

Does anyone have any ideas when 500GB 2.5" drives are forecast to turn up?

I haven't read anything, but I would bet by the end of this year or early 2009. It kinda sorta seems like they are trailing 5400RPM drives (at the same capacity) by a good 6-9 months. That being said, things are really hoping in the 2.5" space. It could happen sooner rather than later. Competition is fierce with laptops being so hot. It's also driving prices down like crazy.

So Western Digital finally joins the 7200RPM notebook disk crowd and with a 320Gb disk too. Power requirements are the same as their 5400RPM cousins and although WD doesn't give start up power requirements (unlike Hitachi and Seagate, both ~5W) the quoted 2.5W for read/write means it could run off a single USB port.

Does anyone have any ideas when 500GB 2.5" drives are forecast to turn up?

I would love to use one of these for an external when powered eSATA comes out, it would be as fast as any internal with that kind of connection._________________"You must control your future by taking command of your present, and fixing and learning from your past."

All these new high capacity notebook drive entries must be the reason why you can now get the 200gb 7200rpm drives from Hitachi and Seagate at bargain basement prices (under $120). I'm tempted to buy the Hitachi while it's on $30 rebate special (OtherWorld Computing), but I still have 40gb left on my Seagate 7200.2 (120gb).

I have the 200GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 in my Mac mini. It's a little nosier than the stock 5400-rpm drive it replaced, but it performs so much better. I just wish that I had waited a little longer to buy one. I paid almost $160 dollars for mine.

I've thought about it, but I don't think I will. Currently I only have 5GB left on my 60GB. That is going to used up come this Thursday. I have so many files on my rig. Even though I can stream them from my computer, I like to save them on my PS3 so I don't have to turn on my Mac.

I've recommended it to my cousin since he doesn't have any computer. I think I'll stick with my Mac. My PS3 is my multimedia/home theater workhorse.

I don't think I will. Currently I only have 5GB left on my 60GB. That is going to used up come this Thursday. I have so many files on my rig. Even though I can stream them from my computer, I like to save them on my PS3 so I don't have to turn on my Mac.

I was going to one time, but decided to pass. Plus, the old 80GB out of my Mac mini was just about full. I'm might just throw a regular (5400 RPM) 250GB WD in there one of these days. They are selling for like under a hundred now. I would really just like to have more space for movies.